letters

LAYOUT

The letter opposite is from a private individual

in Finland to a law firm in the UK.It shows the
basic features of a simple legalletter.

Sender's address
In correspondence that does not have a
letterhead ~see page 9, the sender's address is
placed in the top right -hand comer ofthe page.
Note that commas (.)do not appear after the
separate lines ofthe address: it is not usual to
put punctuation in addresses these days.
The blocked styie is the most widely used, Le.
each line starts directly below the one above.
In contrast with practice in some countries,
in the UK it is not usual to write the sender's
name before his or her address. The sender's
name should, however, appear in type beneath
the complimentary close ~see page 9.

Date
The date is written directly below the sender's
address, separated by a line space. In
correspondence with a letterhead, it is usually
written on the right -hand side of the page.
In British English, it is usual to write the day
ofthe month first, then the month, then the
year. The day should be written as a numeral
the month as a word, and the year as a
'
numeral. No punctuation should be used
between different parts of the date. For
example.j November 2004.
In American English, it is usual to write
the month first, then the day of the month,
then the year. The month should be written
as a word, the day as a numeral with the
abbreviation -th, -st, -nd as appropriate, and
the year as a numeral. It is usual to place a
comma after the day. For example, November
3rd,2004
Because of the differences between British
and American conventons, the date should
not be written in figures. To do so might be
confusing. For example, 11.03.07would mean

11 March 2007 in British English but November

3rd, 2007 in American English.

Inside address
The inside address, the address of the person to
whom correspondence is sent, is written below
the sender's address and on the left-hand side
of the page, and positioned so that it is visible
in the envelope window.
Surname

known

If you know the name of the person you are

writing to, write it as the first line of the
address. Include either the person's initialls or
hs / herfirst given name, e.g.Mr J.E. Smith or
Mr John Smith, NOT Mr Smith.
Courtesy titles used in addresses are:
- Mr (pronounced /rnrsts/) is the usual
courtesy title for aman. (The unabbreviated
formMister should not be used.)
- Ms (pronounced /mu/or /mas/, no
unabbreviated form) is used for both
married and unmarried women. It is often
used whether or not you know if the woman
is married and it is certainly advisable to use
this form of address when you are unsure, or
do not know which title she prefers.
- Mrs (pronounced /Imrsrz/) may be used for a
married woman. (The unabbreviated form is
the archaic and never used Mistress.) The
variantsMissus andMissis occurin
humorous or informal writing; they should
not be used in legal or business contexts.)
- Miss (pronounced /mrz/, not an
abbreviation) may be used for an
unmarried woman.
- Messrs (pronounced /Imesaz/, an
abbreviation forthe FrenchMessieurs,
which is never used in English legal or
business contexts) is used occasionally for
two or more men, e.g. Messrs B. Johns and
R. M. Hardwick. More commonly it forms
part ofthe name of a firm (often a
partnership rather than a company).
e.g. Messrs Hardwice, Casile, and C/arke. It
is somewhat old-fashioned.

o Sender's address

6 Date
)

Inside address

Jukka Virtanen
Korvatie llA
00100 Helsinki
Finland
7March20-

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Messrs Turner, Jones, Smith & Co,

Worcester House
7 Old Hall Street
Oxford
OX17PB

UK

o Attention line
o Salutation

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@ Purchase ofThe Crott, Whittlington

Subject title

6 Body of letter

Complimentaryclose

For the attention of the Residential Property Department

DearSirs

Your firm has been recommended to me by one of your long-standing

clients, Mr Simon Jones. Briefly, 1have agreed to purchase the above
property and wish to instruct a competent firm of solicitors to handle
the conveyancing. 1should be grateful if you would kindly send me a
copy of your standard terms and conditions by return of post.

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1look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully

o Signature

o J~

Virta.J'fV

(Mr) Jukka Virtanen

Other courtesy titles include academic or

medical ttles, e.g. Doctor (Dr). Professor (Prof);
militarytitles, e.g.Captain (Capt.), Major (Maj.),
Colonel (Co1.),General (Gen.); and aristocratic
titles, e.g. Sir,Dame,Lord,Lady.
Sirusually
means that the addressee is a knight, and is
always followed by a first name, e.g. Sir John
Brown, never Sir J. Brown or Sir Brown. It should
not be confused with the salutation Dear Sir
~see page 11.
Esq., the abbreviation for Esquire, is seldom
used now. It can only be used instead of Mr,
and is placed after the name. Do not use Esq.
andMr at the same time, e.g. Bruce Hill Esq.,
NOT Mr Bruce Hill Esq.
AlIthese courtesy titles, except Esq. are also
used in salutations.

Note that a full stop is often used at the end of

the abbreviation if it takes the form of the first
few letters of the word, e.g. Pro! (Professor) but
it is not necessary if it takes the form of the
first and last letter of the word, e.g. Dr (Doctor).
However, some people prefer to write Dr., Mr.,
Mrs., etc. with a full stop. The key point is that
whatever you choose to do, you should be
consistent throughout your correspondence.
Job title known

If you do not know the name of the person you

are writing to, but knowtheir job title, you can
use that in the inside address. Titles used in law
firms and firms with legal departments are:
- Associate / Associate Lawyer
-Attorney
- Chief Legal Counsel
- Director
- Director ofLegal Affairs
- Legal Adviser
- Legal Assistant
- Legal Counsel
- Legal Executive
- Legal Officer
- Managing Partner
- Paralegal
-Partner
- Personnel Manager
- Secretary
- Senior Attorney
- Senior Partner
- Solicitor

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Department

knoWh

Alternatively, you can address your letter to a

particular department of the firm. All but the
smallest law firms, in addition to having some of
the departments common to general commercial
firms (e.g. The Accounts Department, The Human
Resources Department). organize their legal
practices into departments which cover different
areas oflaw. Some law firms cover most major
areas oflegal practice, but others specialize only
in,certain areas of the law and will accordingly
have departments that specialize in narrow subbranches ofthese areas.
Names of departments found in mediumsized general legal practices nclude:
-' Commercial Litigation Department
- Commercial Property Department
- Company and Commercial Department
- Criminal Law Department
- Employment Law Department
- Family Law Department
- Immigration Department
- Personal Injury Department
- Probate, Tax, and Wills Department
- Residential Property Department
Firm known

Finally, if you know nothing about the firrn and

do not know which person or department your
letter should go to, you can simply address the
letter to the firm tself, e.g. Messrs Turner, Jones,
Smith&Co.
FAO

FAO (forthe attention of) is an abbreviation

commonly used at the start of the address
(outside or inside) to ensure that a letter reaches
a named individual in an organization
~see letter on page 102.
Order of inside address

After the name of the person and / or firm

receiving the letter, the recommended order and
style of addresses in the UK is as follows:
- Name (ifany) ofhouse orbuilding
- Number ofbuilding and name of street, road,
avenue, etc.
- Name of town or city
- Postcode
- County (where appropriate)

- Name of country (f the letter is going

abroad)
Worcester House

7 Old Ha 11 Street
Oxford
oX17PB

UK
In other European countries, the number of the
building may be placed after the name of the
street, and the postcode in front of the town.
For example
Korvatie llA
OOlDO

Hetsinki

Finland

It is simplest to follow the above arder and

style, though variations are possible. For
example, the name of the county may be
ornitted, especial1y if the city is a large one: the
postcode may be written on the same Une as
the town; the name of the town, as well as the
country, may be in capitalletters. As a general
rule, the name of the county is only needed if
the postcode is not inc1uded in the address.

Attention line
An altemative to inc1uding the recipient's
name or job title in the address is to use an
attention line ~see letter on page 9.

Salutation
Dear Sir opens a letter written to aman

whose name you do not know.

Dear Sirs is used to address a firm where at
least one ofthe members ofthe firm is maleo
When writing to American firms, Dear Sir or
Madam is preferred, since it does not assume
that the person who opens the letter will be
aman.
Dear Mesdames s used to address a firm
(rarel) where all the members are female.
Dear Madam s used to address a woman,
whether single or married, whose name you do
notknow.

Dear Sir or Madam (or Dear Sir / Madam) is

used to address a person when you do not
know their name or sexo
When you know the name of the person you
are writing to, but do not know them well, the
salutation takes the form of Dearfollowed by
a courtesy title and the person's sumame.
Initials or first names are not used with
courtesy titles, e.g. Dear Mr Smith, NOT Dear
Mr J. Smith or Dear Mr John Smith. Persons
whom you know well can be addressed using
just their first name, e.g. Dear John. However,
although these used to be firm rules in the UK
and the reader would be well advised to follow
them, practice s changing. Do not be surprised
if the other party uses your fust name; once the
other party has so addressed you, it is usual1y
safe to do the same.
A comma after the salutation s optional,
i.e. Dear Mr Smith, or Dear Mr Smith

1
Subject title
In most legal communication, it is customary
to inc1ude a subject tiile, whieh should
comprise a brief description of the matter you
are writing about. This saves the trouble of
introducing the subject in the fust paragraph,
it immediately draws attention to the tapie of
the letter, and allows the writer to refer to it
throughout. The nature of the subject title
varies according to the type of legal business
being handled. The variation often depends
on whether the type of legal business is
NON -CONTENTIOUS
(i.e.not involving court
proceedings) or CONTENTIOUS (involving
court proceedings).
For example, in a property sale (noncontentious) it is usual to put the address of
the property.
Sale of 25 Ha mley Drive, Groundwich

When the letter concems ltgaton (is

contentious), and the case has actually begun
in court, the subject title may contain the
standard case notation:
Bromley

V.

Arlhurs

11

In correspondence between law firms, both of

which are acting for a dfferent client, whether
on contentious or non-contentious business, a
customary addition to the subject title is to
identifythe clients, e.g.:
Your client: John Smith
My client: Mary Pearce
Sale of 25 Hamley Drive, Groundwich
It is possible, but not necessary, to begin
the subject title with Re (with regard to),
e.g. Re: Sale of 25 Hamley Drive, Groundwich.
When sending email messages this may
even be confusing as RE is short for reply.
In addition, it is worth noting that Re. is
sometimes used as standard case notation in
reports of certain types oflegal cases.

If the letter begins with a personal name,

e.g. Dear Mr Jones, Dear Mrs Brown, or Dear Ms
Porter, it should end with Yours sincerely.
The American equivalent is Sincerely yours.
A letter to someone you know well may close
with a number of different informal phrases.
Examples include:
- With best wishes
- Kind regards
- With best regards
+Reqards
- Best wishes
=Best
- Best regards
Avoid closing your letter with old-fashioned
phrases, e.g. We remain yours faithfully.
Commas after the complimentary close
are generally not used in legalletters. The
complimentary close is usually placed on the
left, aligned under the rest of the letter.

Body of letter
Signature

The blocked style, with each line beginning

directly below the one above, without
indentation, is the one most often used for
the body ofthe letter. The start of a new
paragraph is indicated by a line space.
Complimentary

close

If the letter begins Dear Sir, Dear Sirs, Dear

Madam, Dear Mesdames, or Dear Sir or
Madam, the complimentary close should be
Yours faithfully. When writing to American
firms, Respectjully yours (very formal) or
Yours truly (less formal) should be used.

12

In many law firms,letters addressed to another

law frm or an organization start Dear Sirs and
are signed with the name of the firrn: in the
letter the writer refers to the firm as we
~see letter on page 3'.
Otherwise, and in correspondence with a
client, always type your name and, if relevant,
your job title below your handwritten
signature. This is known as the signature block.
It is a matter of choice whether you sign
with your initial / s, e.g. D.Jenkins, or yourfull
given name, e.g. Duncan Jenkins, and whether
you include your courtesy title in your

TITLE

STATUS

COMPLIMENTARY

Mr

married or unmarried male

Yours sincerely

Mrs

married female

Yours sincerely

Miss

unmarried female

Yours sincerely

Ms

married or unmarried female

Yours sincerely

Sir

male - name not known

Yours fa ithfulIy

Madam

female - name not known

Yours faithfully

Dr / Professor / General

may be a male or female

Yours sincerely

CLaSE

signature block. But if you include neither your

given name nor your title, your correspondent
may not be able to identify your sex and may
give you the wrong title when he or she replies.
LAYOUT

Opposite is the law firm's reply to the letter

from the prospective client in Finland. It shows
some more features of a typical legal letter.
Letterhead
The printed letterhead of a firm gives a great
deal of information about it.
Typeoffirm

Most traditionallaw firms are in fact

partnerships. This means that the profits of the
firm are shared among its partners in
accordance with the terms of their partnership
agreement. The partners have joint and several
liability in law, which means that if the
partnership incurs debts both all the partners
together and each individual partner can be
sued for repayment ofthe debts.
The names ofthe partners are often included
in the letterhead;either at the bottom or in a
column on either side of the texto
Address

In addition to the address of the office from

which the letter is being sent, the letterhead
may also give the address of the head office
and any branches or other offices the law firm
maintains.
Telephone and fax numbers will also be
included. The majority of law firms nowadays
also use email and maintain a website, in
which case these will also be included.
References
References are often quoted to indicate
what the letter refers to (Your ref) and the
correspondence to refer to when replying
(Our reJ)oThe majority oflaw firms use
references to identify 1) the writer of the letter,

2) the client about whom they are writing, and

3)the number ofthe case. Firms usually adopt
a relatively simple system for identifying
client and case in the reference. For example,
in the reference RlISMIT.1O-3:
RJ identifies the lawyer handling the caseperhaps Richard Jones, for example
SMITmeans clients whose surnames begin
with SMIT (e.g. Smith)
10 identifies a particular client named Smith
3 identifies the third matter that the firm
has handled for this client

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Per pro
The abbreviationp.p. sometimes a:ppears in
signature blocks. It means per pro, i.e.for and
on behal] of, and is used when someone - often
an assistant or secretary - signs a letter on
behalf of a colleague.
Enclosures
If there are any documents enclosed with a
letter, although these may be mentioned in the
body of the letter, it is also common to write
Enc. or Encl. below the signature block. If there
are a number of documents, these may be
lsted, e.g.:

Enc.
1 Draft contract
2 Licensing agreement
3 Power of attomey
Private and confidential
This phrase may be written at the head of a
letter and, more important, on the envelopeoften in the top left-hand comer, in cases
where the letter is intended to be read only by
the addressee. There are many variations of
this phrase, e.g. Confideniial, Strictly
confideniial, To be opened by the addressee
only- but there is little difference in meaning
between these phrases.
In practice, alllawyers and their staff
are under a professional duty of strict

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7 Old Hall Street

Oxford
oX17PB
telephone: +44 (o) 1865 37522
fax: +44 (o) 1865 37523
email: info@tjs&co.com

TURNER
JONES
SMITH
&CO .

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Your reference

6 References

6 Our reference
Date

GLlVIR.1-1
12March 20-

Mr 1.Virtanen
Korvatie llA
00100 Helsinki
Finland
Dear Mr Virtanen

Purchase ofThe Croft, Whittlington

Thank you for your enquiry. 1confirm that this firm would be glad
to act on your behalf in relaton to this transaction. This matter has
been passed to me to deal wth, as a Senior Assistant Solicitar in this
firm's ResidentiaI Property department.

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1endose a copy of our standard client care letter in duplicate.

This sets out our terms and conditions. PIease read these through,
and, if they are acceptabIe to you, kindIy sign and return the
duplicate copy.
1look forward to he aring from you.
Yours sincereIy

LOuUe-D~
) Per pro
) p.p. Geoffrey Lamb

o Enclosure

Senior Assistant Solicitar

Enc.
Client care Ietter

e o N F I D E NTIALITY in relation to their

client's affairs. Most lawfirms have in-house
procedures that govern how incoming post is
dealt with. Frequently, all incoming post is
sorted by a member of staff (or, in a larger
firm, a smail team of staff) according to
established rules. Typically, these may be as
follows:
- All envelopes addressed simply to the firm
as a whole are opened, and the contents are
transferred to individual recipients, either a)
on the basis of the reference quoted in the
letter, or b) where there is no reference, as in
a new enquiry, according to the type oflegal
matter indicated by the contents.
- All envelopes addressed to individuals are
transferred to individual recipients
unopened.
Therefore, in most cases writing Priva te and
confidential on the envelope simply acts as an
extra safeguard of confidentiality.

Copies
When copies are sent to people other than the
named recipient, c.c.(carbon copy) is added at
the end of the letter, before the name of the
recipient / s of the copies, e.g.:
c.c.Messrs Turner, Jones, Smith & Co
Sometimes you will not want the named
recipients to know that other people have
received copies. In this case, b.c.c. (blind carbon
copy), and the name / s ofthe recipient / s, are
added on the copies themselves, although not,
of course, on the top copy. These abbreviations
are also used in emails and faxes, and mean
exactly the same thing.
The reference to 'carbon copies' is
strictly anachronistic, and relates to the time
when official correspondence was produced
on typewriters in three copies, each of a
different colour. This method of producing
correspondence disappeared when
wordprocessing techniques became standard,
but the convention of referring to carbon
copies remains in use as described above.

ADDRESSING

ENVELOPES

Envelope addresses are written in a similar

way to inside addresses. But in the case of
letters within or for the UK,the name of the
town and the country may be written in
capitalletters, and the postcode may be
written on a line by itself.
Ms R. Bannister

33 Church Road
BOURNEMOUTH

BH17QD

Dorset
Messrs Sandford, Gleadon & Co
3-5 Hinchley Avenue
LONDON

WIN6uz

CLlENT

CARE

LETTER

A client care letter, or terms and conditions

letter, is sent to all new clients. It sets out the
terms and conditions on which the solicitor
wiil work for the client. In effect, it forms the
contract between the solicitor and the client
according to which the solicitor provides
professional services and the client pays for
them.
The terms and conditions letter has
three main purposes:
It deals with issues relating to the
management and conduct of the client's case.
2 It sets out the solictor's terms ofbusiness.
3 It raises certain regulatory matters which
the solicitor is obliged to advise the client
about.
Generally, these are legal requirements which
govern the way in which solicitors may carry
out work for clients.
The client care letter is sometimes referred
to as a 'retainer letter' When it is signed by the
client it becomes the contract for services
supplied by the law firm (Le.the services for
which the fum is retained by the clent),

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Client care
(termsand
conditions) letter
This is a fairly
comprehensive

terms

and conditions

letter,

Cjumber & 'Partners Solicitors

1 Amberton Road, Leicester LE2 9TV
Telephone +44 (o) n6 892445, Fax +44 (o) n6 892446
Email: enq@g&p.co.uk

sent by a partner in a
medium-sized

provincial

lawfirm.
YOUR
OUR

JTF/DAN.2-1

3 August 20-

MIs E.Dancey
lB The Brambles

REF
REF

Leicester
LE18RC

Dear MIs Dancey

Thank you for instructing Gumber & Partners to act on your behalf. 1set out
below the terms and conditions on which your case will be conducted.
Management

of matter

1am a partner in this firm and will have overall responsibility for your case.
Work will be delegated to other staff as and when appropriate.
If you have any queries at any stage, they should be raised initially with me.
If 1am unable to resolve the matter to your satisfaction, ple ase contact our
client care partner, Ms Felicity Matterson. The matter will then be
investigated under our client complaints handling procedure with a view to
resolving any differences. The result of any investigation will be notified to
you as soon as possible. If we cannot resolve the matter to your satisfaction,
the Law Society provides a complaints and redress system.
Terms ofbusiness
Basis of charging

This firrn's general practice is to charge on a time basis.

My charging rate is f195 per hour.
other applicable current hourly rates are:
Partners / associates: f155-f195
Solicitors / consultants: f125-f165
Legal executives: f.ll0-f140
Administrators / case workers: f.75-f140
Trainee solicitors: f.90
Secretaries:f.50

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Underwhat

2 When can payments

3 Can the firm cease to

4 Can the firm provide

circumstances

on account be

act for a client if bilis

financial

can the firm bill

requested?

remain unpaid after

clients?

at a higher rate

30 days?

services to

5 How long after the

matter is completed
will Gumber &
Partners keepthe

than their usual

client's documents

charging

and files?

rates?

 All routine letters and telephone cails are deemed to be six-minute

time units for the purposes of charging.
Our charges are reviewed annually and we will advise you of any
increase or variation made. We are obliged to add to our charges VAT,
currently at the rate of17.5%.
It may be necessary from time to time to pay other expenses. These
may include court and search fees, payments to counsel, valuations,
travel expenses, and bank transfer fees. Some, but not all, of these costs
attract VAT.
In the event that we are obliged to carry out urgent or particularly complex
work on your behalf, or if we are required to carry out work after 8 p.m. or
overnight or at weekends, a mark-up of 50% will be added to our charges.

Payments on account
This firm reserves the right to request payment on account where a matter
is long- running or where significant costs wiil be incurred. All payments
made on account will be placed in a client account in your name. Further
payments may be requested as the matter progresses.

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Billing periods

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We send out bilis at six-monthly intervals or when unbilied fees,

disbursements, and expenses excluding VATexceed f,2,500, whichever is
the sooner. However, we reserve the right to bill at two- monthly intervals if
costs rise very quickly.

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Terms of settlement
All our bills must be settled within 30 days, unless agreed otherwise.
We add interest to unpaid bills at the rate of 8% per annum, commencing
from the expiration ofthe 30-day payment periodo
The firm reserves the right to cease to act, and, where appropriate, to
withdraw from the court record if:
1 invoices are not settled within 30 days and the firm believes that
the level of invoices delivered and unpaid is unacceptable, or
2 payment on account has been requested and you do not within
14days send the funds requested.

6 Ifthe clientfails
to sign and return
this letter, does this
mean that the c1ient
is not bound by
Gumber & Partners'
terms of business?

17

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Regulatory matters

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Money laundering
The firm is obliged to obtain satisfactory evidence of the identity of
its clients. If we are not familiar with you, we may ask you to
produce evidence of your identity (e.g. passport or driving licence). We
must cease to act where such evidence has been requested and is not
produced within 14 days.

Data protection
The Data Controller for the purposes of the Data Protection Act 1998 is
David Berkeley and any information provided by you to us will be used
solely for the purposes of carrying out instructions received from you.
However, from time to time it may be necessary to release information
on a strictly confidential basis to other advisers, for example, counsel
or accountants.

Financial services
We are not authorized to provide financial services under the Financial
Services and Markets Act 2000 but are able in certain circumstances to
offer to clients a limited range of investment services by virtue of our
membership of the Law Society. We are able to provide these services
where they form an incidental part of professional services we have
been engaged to provide.

Standard ofwork
We shall provide a friendly and efficient service. We are audited by
external auditors from time to time, including the Legal Services
Commission and the International Organization for Standardization.
During the course of audits, your files may be checked but the
information in them will remain confidential.

Emails
If you contact us by email or print an email address on any letters we
receive from you, we shall as sume that you have no objection to its use.
We assume that we have the right to communicate in the course of
business using un-encrypted email.
We cannot accept responsibility for intercepted emails or viruses.
We will as sume safe arrival of emails 24 hours after they are sent.

Storage of papers
Unless we receive written instructions to the contrary, we shall keep your
papers for at least seven years, after which they will be destroyed.
Any deeds, documents, or wills deposited in safe custody will not be
destroyed.
No charge will be made for retrieval of files, although we may charge
for producing particular documents to you.
On conclusion of a matter, we reserve the right to publicize the fact
that we have acted for you.
Other matters
For insurance and safety reasons, we will only accept cash payrnents
below the sum of f250. We reserve the absolute right to refuse to issue
cheques or other forms of payrnent to third parties.
If the need arises for us to refer matters pursuant to the Proceeds of Crime
Act 2002, you will by agreeing to these terms waive your right to legal
professional privilege.

Goveming law

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The terms of this letter are governed by the laws of England and you
irrevocably agree that the English courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction to
settle any dispute which may arise out of or in connection with this letter.

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Agreement
If you agree with the terms set out above, please sign and return one
copy of this letter.
If you continue to instruct me before signing this letter, 1shall deem you
to have agreed the terms and conditions set out in this letter.
Yours sincerely

J~FLdcker
Jane Fletcher (Mrs)
Partner
Your signature
1confirm my agreement to the terms ofbusiness set out in this letter.
Authorized signatory

Date
4

19

---

-~-~-~-- ---- ---

--

Faxes
The word [ax comes from [acsmile, meaning
exact copy or reproduction. Like email, the word
fax can be used as a noun, e.g. I sent afax, or as
a verb, e.g. We willfax the document to you
when we receive ii.
Despite the increasing use of email, the
fax machine remains in frequent and constant
use in the legal profession. This is because
it has significant advantages over both
conventional correspondence and email.
The traditional advantage of using fax is
that it is much quicker than conventional
correspondence. This advantage has been
partly eroded by the arrival of email, but the
fax machine remains useful in circumstances
where it is not possible to use email instead.
In legal work, these circumstances may be
summarized as follows.

1 For sending copies of original documents

which only exist in a paper version. It is of
course possible to sean these and send them
as email attachments, but this can be timeconsuming. Note, however, that faxes are
only copies of documents and will not be
acceptable where it is necessary to produce
the original document itself. For example,
an original BILL OF LADING gives TITLE to
goods (Le.you would own the goods if you
had the bill in your possession) and would
not be valid if it were a faxed copy.
2 For sending documents which have either
been signed or need to be signed and
returned urgently by the recipient.
This situation often arises in legal work,
particularly in court proceedings in which it
is essential to produce original signed paper
documents to the court. In most cases,
signed faxes are acceptable as evidence
in court proceedings, whereas emails
containing the same information
generally are not.

3 For sending documents containing

diagrams or drawings.
4 For sending handwritten documents.
This circumstance does not often arise in
legal work. An exception might be where
handwritten annotations are made to a
word- processed document. If it becomes
necessary to send a handwritten fax
message, use a dark colour ink and make
your writing large and clear.
5 For sending a document when speed is
important and the recipient does not
haveemail.
6 For sending a document more securely
than can be done by email.
7 For sending a document when it is useful to
be able in future to prove that it has been
sent and that it has been received by the
addressee's machine.
Different fax machines offer a wide range of
facilities, including repeat dialling if the
receiver's fax machine is engaged; a
transmission report which gives details of
the time, date, sender, receiver, number of
pages, duration, and result: a verification mark
at the foot of the page to confirm the fax was
sent, and a number memory for frequently
used numbers. Check the manual of your fax
machine to find out what functions it can
perform.

Preparing fax for transmission

Here is an example of a confidentiality notice.

CONFIDENTIALITY

Check that you have the correct fax number.

Check that the paper on which your message is
printed or writlen is suitable. If it is too bg, too
small, or in poor condition, photocopy the
message on paper that can be accepted by the
fax machine. Before using the machine, check
that you know how to dial, send, cancel. and
clear a paper [am.
When you send a fax it is a good idea to use a
fax transmission cover formo This will help to
ensure that the fax reaches its intended
recipient safely. Most firms use their own
headed fax transmission form, but you can
easily create one for yourself. e.g.:
THE RADCLIFFE

PARTNERSHIP

Radc/iffe House
3 Orchard Close

Doncaster

DN1 7GK

FAX MESSAGE

t.
Prom.
Fax no.:

Subjeci:
Date:
Page I s [incudinq this):
Confidentiality

notices

Because legal communications are usually

highly confidental, extreme care must always
be taken to ensure that 1) faxes are sent to the
correct number, and 2) they are marked for the
correct recipient. However, occasionally
mistakes are made. Consequently, most faxesand emails - sent by law firms include a
CONFIDENTIALITY
NOTICE. The purpose of
the confidentiality notice is.
- To alert the recpent to the fact that the
contents ofthe communication are
confidential.
- Tomake it clear that unauthorized recipients
may not disclose the information contained
in the communication.
- To request that if the fax is received in error
the sender should be notified.

The information contained in this fa csimile is

confidential. It may also be legally privileged.
It is intended only for the named recipientes)
and access to it by any other person is
unauthorized. If you are not a named
recipieni, you must not disc/ose, copy,
circulate, or in any other way use or rety on
the information contained in this facsimile.
Such unauthorized use may be unlawful.
If you have received this message in error,
please notify the sender immediately.
Style
Generally faxes are similar to letters in style,
level of formality, and the use of conventions;
but a fax may be shorter and the language
more direct, like an email, as there is a time
element in the cost of sending them. However,
basic standards of professional courtesy and
factual and legal accuracy should be adhered
to at all times - bear in mind the possibility
that your fax may one day form part of
evidence in a court oflaw ~ see Unit 2.
In practice, many faxes sent by law firms
simply consist of ordinary letters which are
faxed with a transmission cover form on the
topo In this way the transmission cover form
acts as a covering letter. In such cases, the
text on the cover form will simply refer the
recipient to the enclosed letter ('see enc/osed'
or 'Piease refer to the enc/osed letter'). For very
short correspondence, the whole ofthe
communication may be contained in the
transmission cover formo

21

Fax as covering
letter

THE
RADCLIFFE
PARTNERSHIP

Inthis fax the

short message on the
transmission cover
form refers to the pages
of the completed fixtures
and fittings form that
fo 11 ow.

~
Radcliffe House
3 Orchard Close
Doncaster DN1 7GK

Ielephone. 0132 77552

Fax: 01302 77553
Email: enq@radcliffeptnr.co.uk
Faxmessage

re.

Prom.
Fax no.:
Subject:
Date:
Page / s:

Jane Sanders
Michael Burton
01865789231
17 Lander's Green, Doncaster

14January 2016

PIease find herewith the fixtures and fitting s form completed by our
clients in respect of this property.
Yours faithfulIy

M. Burion.
Michael Burton
The Radc1iffe Partnership

The information contained in this facsimile is confidential. It may also be legally

privileged. It is intended only for the named recipient(s) and access to it by any
other person is unauthorized. If you are not a named recipient, you must not
disclose, copy, circulate, or in any other way use or rely on the nformation
contained in this facsimile. Such unauthorized use may be unlawful. If you
have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately.

Emails
Email (short for electronic mail) is a means
of sending messages (emails) between
computers. To send and receive email you
need access to the Internet. An Internet
Service Provider (1 s p) will provide you with
connection software, which is often free.
This will give you Internet access, storage
for incoming mail, and the capability to
read your messages. Finally, you need email
software, generally already installed in
modern computers, so that you can write,
send, receive, and read messages.
Advantages
There are numerous advantages to email.It
is personal and easy to use. It can be used both
within and between companies, and is an
effective way to cornmunicate quickly and
easily with people a1lover the world. It can be
used from a hotel or Internet caf when you
are travelling abroad. It is especially useful
for short messages and for everyday
correspondence, e.g. setting up a meeting,
passing on information, and making or
replying to a request.
You can pick up your email messages,
even when you are travelling, via a laptop or
palmtop. With compatible systems, you can
access text and graphic documents, and
spreadsheets. And whatever you send or
receive can be quickly and easily filed.
Disadvantages
The disadvantages of email inc1ude technical
problems which may result in the unexpected
non-delivery of messages, or attachments
arriving in unreadable formo Also, the ease with
which messages can be sent results in large
amounts of''junk' emails and unnecessary
communication which wastes time.
Virus emails are an even bigger problem:
these can disable your computer or cause it to
send out emails randomly to persons whose
email addresses are stored in your computer.
Ths problem can be tackled by installing and
maintaining effective virus protection

software on your computer. Another practical .

measure that should be taken s to avoid
opening any emails that look suspicious in any
way - e.g. those which are from an unknown
sender, have an unconventional subject line,
or a short generic message.
As with faxes, a major drawback s the lack
of privacy and security. Digital signing and
encryption (coding data, so that t can only be
read by authorized users), which both work
along similar lines, can make email more
secure. However, do not use email to
communicate confidential information; do
not send anything by email that you would
not wish a judge to read.
In the legal sphere, one of the main
disadvantages of email s that it cannot be
used to send documents which have to be
signed in order to be effective, e.g. in a court of
law. As noted above, a faxed document with a
signature on t is usually valid in a court oflaw,
while an email genera1lyisnot.Itis
also
difficult to prove that an ernal was sent
when you say t was.
When other forms of correspondence
are preferable
There are several are as oflegal
communication where more traditional
forms of correspondence are still the most
suitable. These inc1ude:
To communicate information or send
documentation which is confidential.
2 To send documents or cornmunications
which require a signature.
3 For personal or sensitive communications.
Email has a slightly perfunctory, impersonal
feel to it. Therefore, it s not suitable for any
communication where a personal touch s
required, e.g. messages of congratulation,
condolence, and complaint (or a response
to a complaint).

23

I ~IIII '

'

E
41
-,::J

I1

~I
I

Typical email
message

e
ni

"'~
41
)(

..41
"'~
::
41

-'

Debt collection: Brandfields

Hi John
Further to my last email, we have not received payment of the amount outstanding from
Brandfields. Pie ase go ahead and draw up the necessary claim for enforcement through
the county court as previously discussed.
Best regards

Lucy
Lucy Silk (M s)

';
E
41
41

Q.

Credit Controller
Interways Ud
Unit 15 Longways Industrial Park
Nottingham NG2 7BR
Tel: 0115756398
Fax: 0115 756 399
Email: lucy.silk@interways.co.uk
www.interways.co.uk

..~

4 For job applications. In general, most firms

still expect your application to consist of a
completed paper formor curriculum vitae
together with a covering letter. However,
this should be checked on a case-by-case
basis, as some firms nowadays are becoming
more open to emailed applications.

Note that the names of countries in their main

languages often differ significantly from their
names in English, and this is sometimes
reflected in their domain name suffixes, e.g.:
.de
.za

Deutsch/and (Germany)
Zuid Afrika (South Africa)

LAYOUT

Email addresses

Header information

Typical email addresses look like ths.

jdodgson@interways.co.uk
/ars.johansson@moberg.dk
enquiries@/ambpartners.co.uk
As a rough rule, there are two kinds of
email address:
- One which identifies a particular persono
In this case, the first part of the email
address is usually either the first name or
the initials of the person you are contacting,
followed by their surname. The second part,
which appears immediately after the @ (at)
is the name of the ISP or organization, or the
abbreviation of it.
- One which identifies a function in an
organization. This is typical of larger
organizations which are arranged into
departments. In this case, the first part of the
address identifies a function rather than a
person, e.g. enquiries, sales, office. An email
sent to such an address will usually then be
allocated to a particular person to deal with
according to the nature of the email sent.
The last part of the email address includes
the domain name suffixes referring to the
type of organization, e.g. "co' for company, '.ac'
(academic) for a university, and to the country
from which the message was sent, e.g. 'es'
for Spain, '.uk' for the United Kingdom.
other examples of domain name suffixes
referring to types of organization include:
.biz
.gov
.org
.pro

business
government office
non-profit-makinq
organization
(e.g. a charity)
profession (e.g. medicine, /aw)

The header gives essential information

about the message. It typically includes
the following:
c.c.
This stands for carbon copies, which means
much the same as it does on a letter. Here you
insert the email addresses of anyone you want
to send copies of the message to.
b.c.c.
This stand s for blind carbon copies which, as in
a letter, you should use if you do not want the
main recipient to know who has received
copies.
Subject line

The subject line in an email operates as

in a letter or fax. It should consist of a brief
description of the matter you are writing
about. In emails, the subject line is in fact
more important than in a letter or fax.
There are two reasons for ths.
- When checking emails received on a
computer, one may only see the subject line
instead of the whole email. Therefore, the
subject line must contain such words as will
alert the reader to the matter on which you
have written to him or her.
- Because most people receive many emails a
day in the course of their professionallife,
there is a tendency to delete any emails
which look as if they are suspicious, junk,
viruses, or unsolicited and unwanted
communications. Therefore, a properly
worded subject line may save an important
email from being deleted in error.

..

"

.~

. 25

Attachments

Icons of any attachrnents will appear here.

NOTE The amount ofheader information,
and the order in which it appears, wiil vary
according to the software being used, so do not
worry if the messages you send and receive do
not look exactly like the one in the example.

Message text
The presentation of the text in an email is
often less formal than in a letter, In this first
example, the communication is clearly
intended for another member of staff within
the same firmoTherefore, the informal tone is
appropriate. Informal, however, does not mean
unprofessional. Do not allow the apparent
informality of email to lure you into
breaches of confidentiality or into writing
communications which would be
professionally embarrassing if disclosed to
persons other than the intended recipient.
In legal work, as a general rule, all
communications with persons outside the
firm should be no less formal than in a letter
or fax. Always remember that any such
communications may potentiaily form part of
evidence presented to a court of law one day.

Signature
This is like the signature block in a letter,
although it usuaily includes more details, e.g.
the sender's company or private address, and
telephone and fax numbers. You can program
your email software to add your signature
automatically to the end of outgoing messages.

26

Canfidentiality natices
As with faxes, emails sent by law firms
invariably contain confidentiality notces,
which are designed to provide for the
possibility that an email may accidentally be
sent to someone other than the intended
recipient. As with faxes, the purpose of the
confidentiality notice s:
- To alert the recipient to the fact that the
contents of the communication are
confidential.
- To make it clear that unauthorized recipients
may not disclose the information contained
in the communication.
- To request that if the fax is received in error
the sender should be notified.
Here is an example of a confidentiality notice.

The information contained in this email and

in any attachments hereto is confidentia/. It
maya/so be /egally privileged. It is intended
oniy for the named recipient(s) and access to
it by any other person is unauthorized. Jfyou
are not a named recipient.you must not
disclose, copy, circulate, or in any other way
use or re/y on the information contained in
this email or in any attachments he reto.
Such unauthorized use may be un/awfu/.
Jfyou have received this email in error,
please notify the sender immediately.

Style
Email is a relatively recent development, and
because it is perceived as a quick and informal
means of communication, people are often
unclear about the style and conventions they
should use in business situations.
In legal work, while email correspondence
maytend towards informality, it should follow
the same general prncples as any other form
ofbusiness correspondence ~see Unit 2.
Here are some basic tips about style in emals.
- In general, email messages follow the style
and conventions used in letters or faxes. For
example, you can use salutations such as
Dear Mr Archeror Dear Gerald, and
complimentary closes such as Yours
sincere/y. However, if you know the recipient
well, or if you are exchangng a series of
messages with one person, you may
dispense with the salutation and
complimentary close altogether.
- Make a clear mental division between
personal messages and messages written in
the course of legal work. In a message
written in the course of legal work, the same
rules of writing apply as for a letter: write
clearly, concsely, pay attention to the
accuracy of factual information and legal
advice gven, and observe high standards of
professional courtesy, consider audience,
purpose, clarity, consistency, and tone.
- Use correct grammar, spelling,
capitalization, and punctuation, as you
would in any other form of correspondence.
- Do not write words in capitalletters in an
email message.This can be seen as the
equivalent of shouting and therefore have a
negative effect. If you want to stress a word,
put asterisks on each side of it, e.g. "urgent",
- Keep your email messages short and to the
point. People often receive a lot of emails at
work, so conciseness is especially important.
- In general, limit yourself to one topic per
message. This helps to keep the message
brief and makes it easier for the recipient to
answer, file, and retrieve it later.

- Check your email message for mistakes

before you send it, just as you would check a
letter or a fax message.
Email abbreviations
TLAs (three-Ietter

acronyms)

In order to keep email messages short, people

sometimes use abbreviations for common
expressions, just as they do in text messaging.
These are known as TLAs(three-letter
acronyms), although some ofthem are
more than three letters long. Here is a list
of some of the most commonly used TLAs:
AFAIK
BFN
BTW
COB

FYI
IOW
NRN
OTOH

r-ov
. TBA

asfaraslknow
byefornow
bytheway
close ofbusiness
[or your information
in otherwords
no reply necessary
on the other hand
point ofview
to be announced / to be agreed

TLAsare highly informal, and are therefore

not suitable for the vast majority of email
correspondence. They should never be used
in letters or faxes.
Emoticons

Emoticons (a combination ofthe words

emotion and icon). also known as smileys, are
often used in informal email correspondence.
They express emotions which may not be
evident from the words alone, e.g.:
:-) a smile

:-(afrown
;-) a wink
Emoticons should never be used in emails sent
in the course of legal work - using them will
destroy your professional credibility.

27

Points to remember
Letters

S Prepare your transrnission carefully

before you send it.

Many of these points apply to faxes and

emails as well.

6 In general, the language offaxes is the same

as that ofletters, although faxes can be
briefer and more direct,like email messages.

1 The layout and presentation of your letter

are important as they give the recipient
the first impression of your company's
efficiency.
2 Write both the sender's and the recpent's
address in as much detail as possible and in
the correct order.
3 Make sure you use the recpent's correct
title in the address and salutation. If in
doubt as to whether a woman is single or
married, use Ms.
4 Write the date like ths: 2 November

20-.

S Do not write the month of the date in figures.

6 Choose the correct salutation and
complimentary close:
Dear Sir I Madam with Yoursfaithfully
Dear Mr I Ms Smith with Yours sincerely
7 Make sure your references are correct.
8 Make sure that you include an accurate
subject line - one which will enable the
recipient to identify at a glance the matter
you are writing about.
9 Make sure your signature block tells your
reader what he or she needs to know
aboutyou.

Faxes
1 Fax is an open system, so it should not be
used for confidential correspondence.
2 Ensure that every fax you send includes an
appropriately worded confidentiality notice.
3 Write clearly, using a dark colour when
sending handwritten messages.
4 Remember that faxes are copies, and
cannot be used when original documents
are required.
, i

28

Emails
Email is very fast and effective, but
should never be used for confidential
correspondence.
2 Email addresses usually give the name
of the person or department, then the @
(at) symbol, followed by the name of the
company or institution, and finally the
domain names, which indicate the type of
organization and the country from which
the message was sent.
3 Do not allow the apparent informality
of email to lure you into breaches
of confidentiality or into writing
communications which would be
professionally embarrassing if disclosed to
persons other than the intended recipient.
4 Email is not suitable for sending and
receiving documents which need to be
sent or received in a signed form.
S Ensure that every email you send
includes an appropriatelyworded
confidentiality notice.
6 It is better not to use special abbreviations,
e.g. TLAs,in legal correspondence, as
they are too informal. If you use them,
do not confuse your recipient by using
abbreviations he or she may not know
or understand. Neither use abbreviations
which have more than one meaning
(e.g.TBA)in circumstances where there
may be confusion about which is intended.